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Even more LETHAL!

by Steven Sande on Apr 23rd 2009

Remember LETHAL? It’s an app that can keep you awake at night by telling you about all of the dangerous things that can kill, maim, or at least injure you. The good thing is that LETHAL does it in a humorous way.

We did a review of LETHAL a few months ago, and now the development team at Elany Arts has taken the app to a new level. Not only did they significantly upgrade LETHAL, but they also dropped the price of the app from US$1.99 down to US$0.99.

What’s changed? 

• LETHAL now gives a risk ranking for every US and Canadian town or city with a population over 100,000, plus all Canadian National Parks. If you’re within a large metropolitan area, you can watch your LETHAL index change as you drive around.
• More disasters! More dangerous animals!
• The crime information is more specific, with new updated crime data from the FBI database.
• You can view rankings for all locations from most dangerous to least (or vice versa) for all indexes and specific risks. Want to find the #1 area to get killed by a grizzly bear? LETHAL can help.
• Speaking of animals, they’re now displayed with their relative risk based on prevalence in the area and confirmed attacks (I griped about this in my earlier review, since they showed mountain lions as a big risk in my suburban neighborhood).
• Disasters are also displayed with their relative risk based on prevalence and confirmed incidents.

LETHAL (click opens iTunes) is a fun and fascinating app, and the new lower price and extra-chunky feature set makes it even more worthwhile.

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Rattler’s reputation takes a toxic turn for the worse

Experts suspect species is becoming deadlier

By Scott LaFee (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer

2:00 a.m. April 20, 2009

With warming weather comes the return of rattlesnakes and renewed reports that one species of the slithering reptile may be biting more people and becoming more dangerous.

In recent years, some doctors and toxicologists in Southern California and across the Southwest have reported anecdotal evidence of an increase in snakebite cases, with more patients suffering extreme – sometimes fatal – consequences.

Last summer, San Diego Poison Control officials said the recorded number of “unusually powerful” snakebites had increased for the second consecutive year. Media attention has fanned the furor, most recently an article in the current issue of Scientific American that suggests the venom of the southern Pacific rattlesnake, a common species in San Diego County, is becoming “extratoxic.”

That’s bad news for potential bite victims and arguably worse news for rattlesnakes, but some herpetologists and snake experts question whether the phenomenon is real.

Each year, the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System records 40 to 60 rattlesnake bites in San Diego County, said Dr. Richard Clark, a toxicologist at the University of California San Diego and medical director of the local poison control center. In 2004, the poison control system recorded 42 rattlesnake bites to humans in the county. In 2005, there were 45; in 2006, 54; in 2007, 47; and last year, 41.

The real number is higher, Clark said, because snakebites are not among cases that doctors are required to report. Clark said he believes that locally, one or two snakebites in 2008 were fatal.

In the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are roughly 7,000 reported venomous snakebites each year, 15 of which on average prove fatal.

Clark said the number of snakebites varies with shifting environmental conditions. Wildfires, for example, can substantially affect rattlesnake habitat, reproduction rates and prey availability. He predicted that the annual number of rattlesnake bites will trend upward “as we continue to build and expand into East County and snake habitat.”

San Diego County is home to four species of rattlesnake: the speckled, the red diamond, the sidewinder and the southern Pacific, which is a subspecies of the western rattlesnake and the most abundant rattler in the region.

It’s the southern Pacific rattlesnake that’s generating headlines and concern, with speculation that the species is evolving and expanding into a more dangerous animal. To some degree, scientists say, there are reasons to worry.

First, southern Pacifics are more widely distributed than other indigenous rattlesnakes. They live in diverse habitat from the beaches to the mountains, and they are tolerant of disturbed, developed areas.

“Southern Pacific rattlesnakes thrive where people prefer to live, so people encounter them relatively frequently,” said Dr. Sean Bush, a professor of emergency medicine at Loma Linda University and a snake researcher.

Second, the snakes appear to be more easily annoyed than other species and are more likely to defend themselves aggressively. Clark described them as having “nasty dispositions” and more inclined than other rattlers to bite before retreat.

Bush called them “people-biting snakes.”

It’s the bite, of course, that concerns doctors, scientists and potential victims. Rattlesnake venom is a lethal cocktail of toxins that quickly causes significant tissue damage and hemorrhaging. The bitten prey weakens and dies, and then the snake consumes it.

In humans, an ordinary rattlesnake bite produces initial swelling and bruising around the wound, but quick treatment and new antivenins mean rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal.

There is research to indicate that the venom of at least some southern Pacific rattlesnakes contains an additional deadly ingredient: a fast-acting neurotoxin that affects breathing and muscle control. (A telling symptom of a southern Pacific bite is rapid, uncontrollable muscle twitching.)

A neurotoxin is also present in the Mohave rattlesnake, a deadlier, desert-dwelling species found primarily in Arizona and Mexico, though part of its range reaches into eastern San Diego County.

Some researchers have speculated that interbreeding with Mohave rattlesnakes has produced a deadlier version of the southern Pacific. Richard Dart, director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, said it’s possible. “If they’re rattlesnakes, they’ll interbreed. I’ve seen it in the lab, though it’s probably not something that happens in nature every mating season.”

William Hayes, a biologist and snake researcher at Loma Linda University, is more skeptical. He dismisses the idea that southern Pacific rattlesnakes are naturally evolving a more toxic venom. The majority of western rattlesnakes lack neurotoxins in their venom, he said. If some southern Pacific rattlesnakes do in fact have them, it’s likely to be an unidentified toxin.

Bush suggests the phenomenon may be an example of convergent evolution.

“That is, an animal develops a similar trait because it utilizes it for a similar task,” Bush said. “Sort of like giraffes and brontosauruses both having long necks, probably to feed on leaves high in trees.”

On one thing all of the researchers agree: Size matters in snakebites. Adult victims tend to fare better than children because of greater body mass. And the bigger the snake, the worse its bite.

“I don’t know where the myth about baby rattlers being more dangerous came from,” said Dr. Roy Johnson, an Escondido-based physician and herpetologist. “The key is how much venom is injected, and a big snake injects a lot more venom than a small snake.”

Anecdotal reports of nastier snakebites may be due to a proportionate increase in big snakes. Hayes said chronic drought conditions in Southern California may have reduced reproductive rates among rodents and other small mammals, which are the southern Pacific’s preferred prey.

As a result, the rattlesnake’s reproductive rate has also declined, reducing the number of juvenile snakes. “We may well be seeing a shift toward more bites being inflicted by larger rattlesnakes simply because smaller snakes may now be disproportionately few,” Hayes said. Southern Pacific rattlesnakes can grow up to 4 feet in length.

Snakebite data suggest big snakes usually bite big people. Children tend to be bitten by small rattlesnakes they stumble upon inadvertently. Adults are more often bitten by rattlesnakes they try to pick up.

“If anything, we can expect the escalating emphasis on snakes in nature television programming to inspire more people to make dumb decisions about handling venomous snakes,” Hayes said. “We might be seeing a shift in the demography of snakebite victims, with more adult men, many under the influence of alcohol, getting bitten by snakes they should not have been messing with.”

Johnson, the Escondido physician who has treated hundreds of snakebite victims over 30 years, agreed: “Mostly people get bitten because they tried picking up a snake, because they weren’t smart enough to know better.”

HOW TO TREAT A BITE

Rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal when the victim receives fast treatment. Administering antivenin is critical. Traditional first aid, such as applying ice, using a tourniquet or putting suction to the wound, may cause more harm than good.

If the bite occurs while in a remote setting, the wounded area should be immobilized (especially if it is an arm or leg) and the victim quickly but safely transported to the nearest phone. Dial 911 and wait for assistance. If no phone is available, drive to a hospital or clinic.

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LOCAL RATTLESNAKES

 

WESTERN/SOUTHERN PACIFIC 
Crotalus viridis helleri

Description: Up to 4 feet in length. Light gray or brown, with pale margins around dorsal blotches. At higher elevations, specimens may be black. Juveniles have yellow-green tails.

Habitat: Seacoast to pine-wooded mountain ranges.

Behavior: Aggressively defensive.

RED DIAMOND 
Crotalus ruber

Description: Usually in the 3-foot range, though some adults may exceed 5 feet. Distinctively reddish or tan, with subtle diamond pattern on back and a black-and-white tail.

Habitat: Areas of rock and brush, such as coastal sage scrub.

Behavior: Generally docile, though individual temperaments vary.

SOUTHWESTERN SPECKLED 
Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus

Description: Up to 3 feet in length. Color matches earth tones of environs, with black speckles forming indistinct bars or blotches on back. Dark rings on tail.

Habitat: Most abundant in inland rocky areas and in the desert.

Behavior: Alert, nervous and quick to rattle when disturbed.

SIDEWINDER 
Crotalus cerastes

Description: Rarely exceeds 2 feet. Generally pale tan and pink, matching desert sands. Dark square blotches on backside. Hornlike protrusions above eyes.

Habitat: Sandy desert

Behavior: Quick and elusive, leaving distinctive J-shaped tracks.

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Attacks of Nature: Killed by Lightning

Posted: 3:57 PM Apr 21, 2009 Last Updated: 7:48 PM Apr 21, 2009 Reporter: Liz Hayes

Lightning is an incredible force of nature.

Each spark can cross more than five miles in length, reach temperatures of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and contain up to 100 million voltes of electricity.

According to the National Weather Service, since 1940, there have been 62 lightning related deaths in Wisconsin.

And in the midst of Severe Weather and Tornado Awareness Week, that’s an important number to consider.

Liz Hayes continues her special series, ‘Attacks of Nature.’ Here, she explains how mother nature can change lives forever, as a young man is ripped from his family and friends by a devastating strike of lightning.

On July 24, 2006, members of the Antigo-based hard rock band Below Logic were working on their brand new bus.

They were going to use it to take their music across the country in the hopes of making it big.

But before they could, the unthinkable happened.

“We were in a hurry to get all the stuff in the bus because it was set up outside and Curt had ran back into the house and me and Bill were loading stuff on the bus and when we got on the bus we heard a really loud explosion,” said Dave Krueger, 29, of Below Logic.

A storm had brewed out of nowhere and Curtis Meyer, 24, had been struck by lightning. He died instantly.

“I can’t explain the noise that I heard but it was really loud. Next thing I look outside, and Curt was lying on the ground,” Krueger said.

Hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity struck a giant tree in Curt’s backyard.

He was running for shelter when the lightning entered his body.

Krueger couldn’t believe what had happened.

“One minute we’re working on our bus, following our dream of being a musician and next thing you know, boom, he’s gone in a blink of an eye like that. It’s been tough. It’s been really hard,” he said.

Curt was known as a quiet, down-to-earth, well-mannered guy who loved music and the outdoors, and dreamt of becoming a rock star.

“He did a lot for a lot of people and he knew a lot of people and he didn’t go on telling people about it, you just heard about it from other people. He wanted the band to go out and try it and see what would happen,” said Bob Meyer, Curt’s father.

His parents, who were so proud of their son, were overwhelmed with emotion.

“I was told Curt was struck by lighting, all I could think was he must have been on the golf course….and when you find out that it happened just in his yard, right at his house, that just doesn’t make sense. It’s not supposed to happen,” said Ruth Meyer, his mother.

And now everytime Krueger hears the low rumble of thunder, he’s reminded of how precious life is.

“It’s changed my life big time in the fact that now if it’s storming, if it’s thundering and lightning I’m not outside,” he said.

The Meyers have started an Antigo chapter of The Compassionate Friends.

“It’s so hard losing a child,” said Bob.

It’s a grief support group that has helped the couple cope with their son’s death.

“I think because we know the pain of losing a child, it just does us good to reach out and help others who may be going through the same thing,” Ruth said.

And now all three want people to know that lightning is incredibly dangerous, and that if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, you can be killed in a mere moment.

“Mother nature’s always been strong. I believe the storms and that are getting worse,” Bob said.

The day before he died, Curtis wrote an email to a new friend.

In it he writes, “I like to think of myself as a moral man. I believe in God and in doing the right thing. When I die I want people to think of me as a good, respectable person that never gave up on life.”

And that’s exactly how we will. 

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Lightning strikes Mack Bayou home

April 20, 2009 – 10:28 AM

Debbie Wheeler

The Walton Sun

 

Lisa Hinds has lived in coastal areas all her life, but never incurred any damage from storms until Monday morning.

Hinds was in her second-floor bedroom at her Mack Bayou home during the hard rains, along with her two dogs, Lola and Ricco.

When the storm worsened, Hinds gathered up the pups and went downstairs to turn off electronics. The three then curled up on the sofa to wait for the storm to pass.

About 10 minutes later Hinds heard a loud boom and saw pieces of her framed artwork that had been hanging in the ascending stairwell came flying down the stairs.

“All the smoke detectors went off and I immediately smelled smoke,” said Hinds. “I picked up the dogs and ran to the back door. The yard was scattered with debris from the house. I ran outside and smoke was billowing from the house, but I couldn’t tell if it was a tree or if it was the house.”

She frantically dialed 911.

“Lola, Ricco and I stood on the porch soaking wet and lightning was all over the place. I ran to the garage, opened the door and looked back at my home. All I could see were red flames in my bedroom upstairs,” she said.

Hinds learned later that lightning had struck her home, entering the southwest corner of her second-floor closet, and traveling along her metal clothing rod to other points in the house.

Tuesday morning her house still reeked of a burn odor as she pointed to the broken glass in the downstairs hallway, burned electrical wall sockets, broken picture frames that held valuable and sentimental photos and artwork, and debris littering the outside. What was most heartbreaking, though, was finding the black burn mark left on her son’s baby blanket she wrapped him in to bring him home from the hospital.

“I didn’t save many mementos from my boys’ childhood. The blankets I brought them home from the hospital in was one of the few,” she said sadly. “That can’t be replaced.”  

Hinds and her pups are now homeless and looking for a place to live.

“They say it will take about six months to get my home livable,” she said.

So far, she knows the roof needs to be replaced, as does the electrical wiring, appliances and electronics.

“My clothes are wet and smell like smoke,” she added.  

“It was a strange day. But I’m safe and my doggies are safe. I was told that if I had been upstairs when it hit, I would be dead. I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said. “It just all feels surreal.”

According to South Walton Deputy Fire Chief Sean Hughes, the home incurred approximately $60,000 worth of damage.

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I don’t really understand why W made hunting Grizzlies legal when their numbers had barely recovered.

Bear facts: As bears die, hunters and climate change blamed

Bozeman, Mont. – Hunters are killing grizzly bears in record numbers around Yellowstone National Park, threatening to curb the species’ decades-long recovery just two years after it was removed from the endangered species list.By: Associated Press, Associated Press

Bozeman, Mont. – Hunters are killing grizzly bears in record numbers around Yellowstone National Park, threatening to curb the species’ decades-long recovery just two years after it was removed from the endangered species list.

Driving the high death rate, researchers say, is the bears’ continued expansion across the 15,000-square-mile Yellowstone region of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Bears are being seen –and killed – in places where they were absent for decades. And with climate change suspected in the devastation of one of the bear’s food sources, there is worry the trend will continue as the animals roam farther afield in search of food.

“Last year may have been one those fluke years,” said Chuck Schwartz, a bear biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “Last year could be the beginning of a trend.”

Yellowstone’s 600 grizzlies were removed from the endangered species list in 2007, following a recovery program that cost more than $20 million. If the death rate stays high for a second consecutive year, that would trigger a review of the bear’s endangered status.

Federal officials say there were 48 bears killed by humans last year, out of 71 total deaths. At least 20 of the bruins died at the hands of hunters who shot bears in self-defense or after mistaking them for other animals.

“It’s kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. All you see is a big bear coming at you full speed,” said Ron Leming, a Wyoming elk hunter who survived an attack from a 500-pound male grizzly after his father shot it dead with an arrow.

“If you play dead he might sit there and eat you,” Leming said.

Schwartz and other biologists who study grizzlies insist the population remains strong for now, growing on average 4 percent to 5 percent a year. Yet they acknowledge climate change could prove the wild card that puts that growth in check.

An epidemic of beetles in Yellowstone’s high country has laid waste to tens of thousands of acres of whitebark pine trees, which have seeds that some grizzlies rely on as a dietary staple.

Beetle epidemics are cyclical in the Northern Rockies. The latest one has been prolonged by several consecutive winters in which subfreezing temperatures did not last long enough to knock back the infestation.

If a warming world leads to less whitebark pine, environmentalists fear grizzlies will become more aggressive in challenging hunters – contests that bears usually lose.

“The prospect is that every year is going to be a bad food year because of what’s happening to whitebark,” said Doug Honnold, an attorney for the group Earthjustice.

Citing dying pine forests as a major threat, Honnold’s group sued the federal government in an attempt to get Yellowstone grizzlies back on the endangered species list.

Christopher Servheen, bear recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said his agency is closely monitoring the population and already crafting a plan to stem the death rate.

Promoting hunters’ use of bear spray – a mace-like substance that deters charging bears – tops the list of non-lethal strategies for handling bears.

But some hunters including Leming, who narrowly escaped his bear run-in near Cody, Wyo. last fall, say they would rather rely on a gun. Bear spray, Leming said, is great to have on hand when he’s sleeping in his tent. In the woods, he’d rather have a handgun at his side.

Gregg Losinski, an education specialist with Idaho Fish and Game, said promoting the possibility of future grizzly bear hunts might convince more people to buy into bear conservation.

Hunts currently are not allowed, but Losinski said the mere possibility could give hunters a sense that they will get a “payback” for conservation.

Other measures being considered to curb bear deaths are stepped-up public education efforts and restrictions on livestock grazing, to prevent bear attacks on sheep and cattle.

Even with those measures, researchers say bear deaths are inevitable as the animals returns to a different landscape than that occupied by their ancestors.

Before early European settlers drove bears to near extinction, there were an estimated 50,000 grizzlies in the western half of the United States.

Yellowstone’s bears are among about 1,500 that have since repopulated the Northern Rockies. They must compete for space with several million tourists, and property owners.

“Some people say, ‘This is terrible, there’s more bears killed now than in many years,’” Servheen said. “Well, there’s more bears now.”

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I had no idea. So now what should we carry to defend ourselves? Or should we just not worry about it?

Is Bear Pepper Spray Legal or Illegal to have in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

With more than 2 black bear per square mile and around 900 miles of hiking trails and roadways in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, your chances of having a bear encounter up close or from a distance are quite good. Because of this many hikers and campers carry cans of bear pepper spray they have purchased from either outfitters or online.

Regardless of what these stores or web sites are telling you, it is ILLEGAL to carry, posses or use any form of bear spray, pepper spray, mace or any other irritant gas spray in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. This is not just a “park rule” but a weapons law on federal property – not something you want to break at any cost.

Don’t kill the messenger as I was in complete shock when I learned of this through the kindness of a park employee who read on one of my web sites my recommendation to purchase and carry bear spray when hiking or camping in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone who hikes or goes camping in the Great Smoky Mountains national park that it is against the law to have a loaded firearm in the park. There are signs at every trailhead and this general rule – make that law – applies to most national parks.

The fact that guns are prohibited from the Great Smoky Mountains national park also appears on the back of park maps, in written park literature, is stated in lectures given by both park personal and volunteers and on the parks web site.

What is virtually impossible for the average park visitor to find anywhere is the fact that you can not carry bear spray or on your person – that includes in your backpack while in the park.

Even more confusing is the fact that if you do a general search on theGreat Smoky Mountains national park web site under “National Park Service for the term “bear spray” it describes the use of bear spray in other national parks.

Yesterday I went to a handful of local outfitters or their web sites in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville area and they all have bear pepper spray for sale. When I asked not one told me I could not carry bear spray in the park.

As a mater of fact one of the best known outfitters in Gatlinburg whose store is so close it is almost in the GSM national park has on their web site “Bear Spray & Personal Protection For A Safe Hike In Great Smoky Mountains National Park Or In Your Own Neighborhood”.

To be further confusing many other companies online, web sites, hiker forums etc all advocate the use of Bear Pepper Spray in national parks – often specifically referencing the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

As mater of fact it is also used as a reason why guns should not be needed against a bear attack in a national park. I myself recommended it many times as a viable non lethal alternative to guns with a far lower chance of serious collateral damage to others.

I see Appalachian Trail through hikers in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as a group unknowingly breaking this law quite regularly and since their travels take them through various jurisdictions with varying laws they are at a greater risk of being caught up in breaking this weapons law on federal property.

In case you are wondering what the exact law is and if it has been misinterpreted by me here it is:

TITLE 36–PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY

CHAPTER I–NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

PART 2_RESOURCE PROTECTION, PUBLIC USE AND RECREATION–Table of Contents
Sec. 2.4 Weapons, traps and nets.

(a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section and parts 7 (special regulations) and 13 (Alaska regulations), the following are prohibited:
(i) Possessing a weapon, trap or net
(ii) Carrying a weapon, trap or net
(iii) Using a weapon, trap or net
Definition of a weapon is described below:

TITLE 36–PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY

CHAPTER I–NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

PART 1_GENERAL PROVISIONS–Table of Contents

Sec. 1.4 What terms do I need to know?
Weapon means a firearm, compressed gas or spring-powered pistol or rifle, bow and arrow, crossbow, blowgun, speargun, hand-thrown spear, slingshot, irritant gas device, explosive device, or any other implement designed to discharge missiles, and includes a weapon the possession of which is prohibited under the laws of the State in which the park area or portion thereof is located.

If you have purchased bear pepper spray through one of my web sites for use only in the GSMNP and you wish to return it, contact me through the site and I will arrange for you to be able to return it for a full refund.

If you own bear spray, don’t bring it into the Great Smoky Mountains national park and I suggest you call any other place you wish to carry it before you bring it there.

If you are not happy with the law banning the use of Bear Spray in the GSMNP, don’t harass the park employees, complain to your congressman or Washington.

As for my recommendation to the national park, I would consider adding a written notice that bear spray or any irritant gas device is illegal to posses in the GSMNP on:

• Park bulletin boards – the first one being at the beginning of the AT in Fontana.
• The black bear page on the parks web site
• Printing it on future bear, hiking and camping literature
• On the back of future issues of park maps where other park rules are located right next to where it says firearms are prohibited.

There are questions as to the effectiveness of Bear Spray and well as potential safety issues for those not properly trained in its use.

I also as that if you have a hiking or camping forum you post in, blog, MySpace or Facebook page you let others know about this law by linking to this page at:

http://yoursmokies.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-bear-pepper-spray-legal-or-illegal.html

As always comments are not only welcome but encouraged.

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Snakes Alive! Watch Where You’re Walking!

Snake Expert Explains Which Snakes Are Harmful, Which Aren’t

JACKSON, Miss. – There have been reports recently of snakes popping up all across Mississippi.

 

Just this week, several snakes were found in a Hattiesburg middle school. One even bit a teacher. 

Snake expert Terry Vandeventer explained that people don’t have to look very far in Mississippi to find snakes. 

Terry Vandeventer found this snake hiding under some old tin.

 

There’s no such thing as a snake repellent, Vandeventer said. Mothballs and commercial repellants don’t repel snakes. So homeowners should keep areas mowed and clean. 

Along the edge of a building that hasn’t been mowed is a good place for rats and mice, which also makes it a good place for snakes to pursue their favorite foods. Snakes are good because they destroy rats and mice, but they’re a nuisance around the house where there’s children and pets. 

“If I’m available, I’ll go remove a snake,” Vandeventer said. “I don’t charge for it or anything like that, but I would rather take away and release it where it would do some good than have it killed. I’m not snake busters.” 

Roofing materials, which Vandeventer said he calls “Katrina Tin,” that have been blown off old buildings are prime hiding places for snakes. In fact, Vandeventer found a copperhead under some roofing material with 16 WAPT cameras rolling. 

This copperhead was found hiding under old tin in Terry.

 

“Now, that is not a deadly snake, but he will ruin your day,” he said. “This is a snake found in urban areas.” 

Vandeventer said copperheads are potentially dangerous because they are venomous and they bite a fair number of people in Mississippi, but they are not considered a lethal species. In other words, he said, copperheads rarely, if ever, cause a human fatality. 

However, Vandeventer said, there have been some very close calls in the U.S. 

“It’s an animal that’s secretive, that wants to be left alone,” he said. “But when people seem them, they always make an effort to kill them. And as a result, we have a lot of bites in Mississippi from copperheads.” 

He also found a bigger snake, which was a chicken or rat snake. Both snakes were found near rodent burrow holes. 

The timber rattlesnake was once common in Mississippi, but is now rare.

 

Vandeventer showed 16 WAPT News a timber rattlesnake, or a kind brake rattlesnake. 

“This is a snake that was once common in Mississippi but is now somewhat rare,” he said. “They’ve been destroyed on a wholesale manner. This is the snake that was on the first American flag — don’t tread on me, the timber rattlesnake.” 

The Mississippi corn snake is often mistaken for the venomous copperhead and killed. In the end, Vandeventer said, the best idea is to use common sense and leave snakes alone.

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Danger looms in abandoned mines, so stay away

Bill Wilson

Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (4:54 p.m.)

Spring has sprung, and with it people are coming out of their winter lairs and into the great outdoors. Nicer weather means more hikers, campers, and mountain bikers. The mountains that surround our fair hamlet are a big draw for thousands of people from all over the world. Unfortunately these same mountains are peppered with abandon or inactive mines. Though exploring an old mine may be tempting for some, ignoring the potential danger it brings can be disastrous. The following are hazards that can be found in the abandon mines around Boulder City.

Shafts — The collar or top of a mine shaft is especially dangerous. The fall down a deep shaft is just as lethal as the fall from a tall building — with the added disadvantage of bouncing from wall to wall in a shaft and the likelihood of having falling rocks and timbers for company. Even if a person survived such a fall, it may be impossible to climb back out. The rock at the surface is often decomposed. Timbers may be rotten or missing. It is dangerous to walk anywhere near a shaft opening; the whole area is often ready and waiting to slide into the shaft, along with the curious. A shaft sunk inside a tunnel is called a winze. In many old mines, winzes have been boarded over. If these boards have decayed, a perfect trap is waiting.

Water — Many tunnels have standing pools of water which could conceal holes in the floor. Pools of water also are common at the bottom of shafts. It is usually impossible to estimate the depth of the water, and a false step could lead to drowning.

Ladders — Ladders in most abandoned mines are unsafe. Ladder rungs are missing or broken. Some will fail under the weight of a child because of dry rot. Vertical ladders are particularly dangerous.

Timbers — The timber in abandoned mines can be weak from decay. Other timber, although apparently in good condition, may become loose and fall at the slightest touch. A well-timbered mine opening can look very solid when in fact the timber can barely support its own weight. There is the constant danger of inadvertently touching a timber and causing the tunnel to collapse.

Cave-ins — Cave-ins are an obvious danger. Areas that are likely to cave often are hard to detect. Minor disturbances, such as vibrations caused by walking or speaking, may cause a cave-in. if a person is caught, he can be crushed to death. A less cheerful possibility is to be trapped behind a cave-in without anyone knowing you are there. Death may come through starvation, thirst, or gradual suffocation.

Bad air — “Bad air” contains poisonous gases or insufficient oxygen. Poisonous gases can accumulate in low areas or along the floor. A person may enter such areas breathing the good air above the gases but the motion caused by walking will mix the gases with the good air, producing a possibly lethal mixture for him to breathe on the return trip. Because little effort is required to go down a ladder, the effects of “bad air” may not be noticed, but when climbing out of the shaft, a person requires more oxygen and breathes more deeply. The result is dizziness, followed by unconsciousness. If the gas doesn’t kill, the fall will.

Explosives — Many abandoned mines contain old explosives left by previous workers. This is extremely dangerous. Explosives should never be handled by anyone not thoroughly familiar with them. Even experienced miners hesitate to handle old explosives. Old dynamite sticks and caps can explode if stepped on or just touched.

Rattlesnakes — Old mine tunnels and shafts are among their favorite haunts — to cool off in summer, or to search for rodents and other small animals. Any hole or ledge, especially near the mouth of the tunnel or shaft, can conceal a snake.

Finally, please remember there is only one safe way to deal with abandoned mines- STAY OUT! For further information contact the Boulder City Fire Department 293-9228.

Link

I would not have guessed that snake bites account for nearly this many deaths per year.

Lethal Snake Bites Kill 200,000 A Year
13 April 2009

Five million people worldwide, mostly in rural Asia and Africa, get bitten by snakes each year. Hundreds of thousands die or suffer permanent disability. A shortage of antivenin treatment in poor countries endangers countless farmers, young adults and children. 

Larry Bulanadi is known in the Philippines as the Cobra King, because of his skill in hunting the feared spitting cobra – a highly venomous snake that spits toxin at its prey.

Farmers have asked him to rid their farms of cobras. 

Today Bulanadi was called by this farmer who found two snakes in his field. If he gets bitten by a cobra, he could die quickly. Hospitals are far away and often they do not even have antivenin.

“There is a good chance to find snakes here because the field has been cleared of places they could hide,” he Bulanadi said. “Farm owners ask us to clear the field of snakes because it is a risk to their lives.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) says about five million people around the world are bitten by snakes each year. As many as 200,000 die, and about 400,000 lose limbs. Most victims are in developing countries in Africa and Asia.

The WHO says victims in developing countries, many of them children, die because they are far from medical help and because there is a global scarcity of antivenin.

Dr. Visith Sitprija runs the WHO Collaborating Center for Venomous Snake Toxicology and Research in Bangkok. He says the high cost of producing antivenin means poorer countries such as Cambodia and Burma cannot get adequate supplies. 

“It’s our commitment and in the terms of reference with WHO that we have to provide antivenin. They order from us from time to time,” Dr. Visith says, “but still we are not serving entirely the whole country, their country.”

Unlike other medicines that can be mass produced, Dr. Visith says antivenin is often tailor-made for snakes from specific locations. “Although they may share the common toxin component, the biological effect varies, you know depending on the environment, genetics and the food they eat,” Dr. Visith said.

That means antivenin for a spitting cobra in the Philippines may not work on someone bitten by a similar snake in West Africa.

In one snake farm in Bangkok, children are introduced to a variety of snakes. They learn that most snakes bite people only by accident, and they learn ways to avoid bites – such as wearing rubber boots.

For now, experts say the best ways to reduce the death and injury toll from snake bites are prevention and education.  

Link

Here’s another perspective on the story of the SUV that caused a sinkhole and then got swallowed up in it. This was a friend of that SUV driver writing on livejournal – he witnessed the whole thing. There are some good photos of the incident on the site.

So, my friend blanky blank did some not so good things before driving and caused one of the biggest traffic accidents in UCF history. And I was there to see it, and I was there to wait 6 hours for them to finally let us go…187!

… I’m ok, I actually was in my own car comming to meet him, so me and shaina got there right after the crash, and we saw the car sink into the ground it was f-ed up hahaha. you can imagine what would make someone pass out lol